Paul Daley Says Bellator London on May 13 Will Be Retirement Fight

If all goes as planned, Paul Daley will be hanging up the four-ounce gloves after one final bout at Bellator London.

Daley revealed during an appearance on "The MMA Hour" Monday that he plans on retiring following the May 13 event. The soon-to-be 39-year-old Englishman doesn’t yet have an opponent for Bellator London, which takes place at the SSE Arena and is headlined by a welterweight title tilt between Yaroslav Amosov and Michael Page.

“May 13 will be last one,” Daley said. “It will be my retirement fight after many years in the game – the hours on the road, the hours in the gym have caught up with me. And now every day, I wake up with a bad back and I’m just tired. Most definitely (I’ll retire). I’ve put a lot of time in the sport, and I’m in a position to retire, fortunately. … I don’t want to be one of those fighters who’s getting knocked out all the time by the younger guys. I want to be the guy that goes out when I want to go out.”

Daley has competed exclusively in Bellator since 2015, winning seven of 12 appearances. “Semtex” was also victorious during a one-bout stint with the California-based promotion in 2012. Daley says he initially planned to retire sooner but wanted the opportunity to call it a career on home soil.

“I’ve been planning for it for a long time,” Daley said. “I’ve had a lot of fights. Bellator has treated me well while I’ve been there, and I always knew it was going to be my last promotion. I’ve put things in place so that when I do call it a day, I can do so comfortably.

“[Sabah] Homasi was going to be my last fight, but Bellator put it in America and I don’t think the U.K. at the time was allowing shows … Then they offered Jason Jackson with title implications, so I took that fight and that didn’t go my way. I owe it to my fans and my family to have this last fight over here in the U.K.”

Daley last fought at Bellator 260, falling to Jackson via unanimous decision on June 11. He has compiled a 42-18-2 record over the course of a professional tenure that began in 2003. He has fought for numerous organizations over the course of his career including the UFC, Strikeforce, Cage Warriors, EliteXC, and British Association of Mixed Martial Arts. His ledger includes wins over notable names such as Lorenz Larkin, Jorge Masvidal, Martin Kampmann, Duane Ludwig and Daniel Weichel, to name a few.